A MUSEUM FOCUSED ON VICTORIA’S RESIDENTIAL HERITAGE. Wentworth Villa provides us with a unique space to highlight the architecture of heritage homes and tell stories of those who lived in them.
ONE OF VICTORIA’S BEST HIDDEN ATTRACTIONS! Discover stories from the city’s past through its architecture. Enter the Villa and immerse yourself in a unique heritage building as you learn about the architects and families who laid the groundwork for the city we know today.
The Museum
The rooms on the first floor of the Villa are exhibition spaces that feature other heritage homes from the region built some time between the late 19th century and the interwar years of the 20th century. Each exhibit highlights a different architectural style and tells the stories about the architects and occupants of these homes. The museum’s exhibitions emphasizes residential architectural design and structure as a way to connect to the past.
Exhibitions & Events
Villa History
Wentworth Villa was the home of Captain Henry Bailey Ella and his family. Upon completion, it stood grandly overlooking the city and became a place for many social gatherings. Over the years, the Ella family hosted such notable friends as Dr. J.S. Helmcken and Rev. Edward Cridge. The Ellas owned their home until 1922 when the City of Victoria took ownership for non-payment of taxes; family members lived in the home until the 1930s.
Faith Grant, owner of an antique store next to Wentworth Villa, purchased the residence in 1940 from the city. After renovations, she relocated her store to the Villa where it operated for 72 years. In 2011, a developer purchased the Villa and sold it again in 2012. Restored in 2013–2016, it is now home to Wentworth Villa Architectural Heritage Museum.
Villa Architecture
The architectural style of Wentworth Villa is Carpenter Gothic. It is comprised of two-storeys containing 14 rooms and 9 fireplaces, with the following key Carpenter Gothic features: a symmetrical plan with a centred front door, pierced bargeboards, steeply pitched roofs, and pointed windows high in the central gables to illuminate the attic. Other windows are tall, double-hung and small paned.
Carpenter Gothic architecture proved a popular style in the late 19th century due to the use of its wood construction – a material in abundant supply at the time in the Pacific Northwest – as well as fret or scrollwork. It stemmed from Gothic Revival and spread throughout North America as an architectural style used primarily in churches and residential structures.
Our Foundation
The Pacific Northwest Heritage Homes Foundation operates Wentworth Villa Architectural Museum. As a Foundation, we promote heritage homes as a bridge connecting the past to the present. Our passion is the preservation of residential heritage architecture and sharing the stories of designs and people that have shaped our neighbourhoods and cities in the Pacific Northwest.
